Katharine Merry spares a thought for some of the underrated athletes whose work might not always get the recognition it deserves.

Yes, folks, it’s that time of year again when we make our choices about which athletes have achieved the most or whose performances have left the greatest impression on us in 2026. But I thought I’d come at awards season from a slightly different angle. 

Yes, those who have set themselves apart and hit the headlines for the right reasons deserve their plaudits but I want to take a moment to applaud those who produce consistent excellence yet still rarely have the spotlight shone in their direction. I’m talking about giving some of the underappreciated athletes who operate at the top level just a little bit of, well, appreciation. 

Lieke Klaver was the first person who came to mind as I was giving this topic some consideration. To me, she is so underrated and has been for a long time. Just look at her performances this year, for example. This summer alone, she ran the 400m in under 50 seconds no fewer than eight times.

Her first race of the year came on February 3 and, on her last appearance – at ATHLOS London on September 18 – she was still running 49.66, her second-quickest time of the year. Given that she had a busy indoor season and then the World Relays leading into the summer, that’s a hugely impressive level of consistency. She is always there or thereabouts. 

I know a lot of her medal success has come thanks to her being a vital cog in the Netherlands’ relay machine, but she still very much poses an individual threat, too. She equalled her personal best of 49.58 in Monaco, won the Brussels Diamond League and landed European bronze in Birmingham. You can just tell she loves running and she’s no slouch over 200m, either – a distance at which she won her second consecutive national title this year, by the way. 

I feel that Lieke’s talents can sometimes be missed or overshadowed given her long association with a training partner who also happens to be one of the finest athletes of recent years in Femke Broeders-Bol. I would argue that the same principle could be applied to Georgia Hunter Bell – hugely successful in her own right but whose M11 Track Club team-mate Keely Hodgkinson tends to attract the lion’s share of attention. 

But I guess iron sharpens iron, as the saying goes, and when you’ve got two or three people doing good things together in training, then the levels are only going to rise. You’re only going to learn and improve. I speak from experience as myself Darren Campbell and Jamie Baulch would battle for the shiniest medal! 

Another current athlete who I believe falls firmly into the underrated category but made me smile this summer has been Jereem Richards. Here is a man who won his first senior global medal in the 4x400m at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, then won 400m indoor gold in Belgrade 10 years later, and is still to be found mixing it with the best.

The 200m bronze medallist at the 2017 World Championships in London won 400m silver in Tokyo last year, and finished second again at the Commonwealth Games back in July. I was calling that race in Scotstoun and it’s not just his times that are impressive (he broke the Trinidad and Tobago national record with 43.68 at the Brussels Diamond League). There is also a superb style to go along with the substance – he’s so silky smooth as he makes his way around the track. PBs of 19.80 and 43.68 say it all. 

Again, he’s someone that keeps cropping and producing the goods. It’s no mean feat to do that in his chosen event, either. We’ve seen so many 200m and 400m runners succumb to injury down the years – and Jereem has had his own fair share of those setbacks – so you have to be robust and have good technique to be able to enjoy a long career in those events. 

Like Lieke, who works with Laurent Meuwly, has a good coach in Lance Brauman plus the really good athletes get smarter with experience. You start to learn how to make better decisions – a habit that is normally injury-driven. 

Most athletes start out thinking that they are superhuman, and it is usually an injury or an issue that stops you in your tracks and makes you think: "Hang on, maybe I'm not as superhuman as I thought I was.” But it goes with the territory of being an athlete. You're pushing yourself to the optimum all the time and always walking a tightrope.

One further entry to my list of “the underappreciated class of 2026” would be Mark English. It was brilliant to see him winning the European 800m title this time around because it feels like he has been on the scene, putting himself out there, almost since the beginning of time! And he’s running so quickly, too. His work this year has been a reminder that each athlete learns to unlock the door to success in their chosen event at different rates. For some, it’s almost immediate. For others, such as Mark, it has taken time and patience. 

The process of writing this has also made me think of other athletes who have been underrated down the years and, when it comes to the top of my all-time list, that honour would fall to American long jumper Brittney Reese.

She competed at four Olympics (winning gold in 2012, silver in 2016 and 2021, as well as coming fourth in 2008), was a seven-time world champion (four titles outdoors, three indoors) and her best jump of 7.31m still puts her inside the all-time top 10. 

But her relative anonymity underlines an important point. After competing in her final Olympics Games she said: “It just sucks that if I was on the track side of the sport I would be the Usain Bolt of long jump. But being in the field event side just doesn’t get the attention that it deserves.” 

It’s a plain truth that the level of recognition an athlete receives is very much dependent not just on personality but also the event they choose to compete in. In many cases, field eventers are treated as second class citizens and just don’t get the same level of coverage their track counterparts can enjoy. Then, if the personality of that person isn't as loud and vocal, they can go even further under the radar. 

So, by all means enjoy making your choices for your athlete of the year. But, as you’re doing so, why don’t you spare a moment to consider some of those who won’t have appeared on the shortlists but have proved themselves to be excellent additions to athletics’ rich tapestry? I’m confident that it won’t take long for your list of the underappreciated to start growing.